Things to Do if You May Become Homeless in a Few Days

You are Also going to need an inexpensive way to communicate with people by phone, text, and internet while you are looking for a place to live, a job or answering phone calls from your Craig list ads to generate money. Metro PCS includes all of this for $40/month.

If you do not need internet, and simply need a phone (extremely easy to use), then Jitterbug might be the right phone service for you. No Contract and $15/month.

NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH FRIENDS, FAMILY, CUSTOMERS, POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS, LANDLORDS, POTENTIAL LANDLORDS, REALTORS, CRAIG LIST RESPONSES,ETC. THIS SECTION IS MORE FOR SINGLE FOLKS, OR PERHAPS A COUPLE AND IS NOT PRACTICAL FOR A FAMILY. IF YOU ARE IN FINANCIAL DISTRESS, AND NEED A PLACE TO STAY (JUST FORECLOSED OR EVICTED). DEBT KID WWW.DEBTKID.COM HAS SOME GOOD SUGGESTIONS (THEY ARE NOT SUGGESTIONS YOU WILL LIKE, BUT THEY WORKED FOR HIM AND CAN WORK FOR YOU. WE DO IN FACT KNOW PEOPLE THAT HAVE USED HIS SUGGESTIONS (YEARS BEFORE HIS EXPERIENCE - THEY LIVED AT THEIR OFFICE, AND TOOK A SHOWER AT THEIR GYM). IN ADDITION, IF YOU NO LONGER WILL HAVE INTERNET ACCESS, YOU CAN GO TO ANY PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND USE THE INTERNET FOR FREE. YOU SHOULD ALSO TRY TO GET A WIFI DEVICE THAT WILL GIVE YOU INTERNET ACCESS, IF YOU DO NOT ALREADY HAVE ONE I.E. IPOD TOUCH, NETBOOK, OR LAPTOP. YOU THEN CAN ACCESS THE INTERNET FOR FREE AT MCDONALDS, STARBUCKS, AND MANY OTHER LOCATIONS. GET YOURSELF A CUP OF COFFEE AT STARBUCKS AND YOU COULD LITERALLY SIT THERE ARE ALL DAY. SAME AT MCDONALDS. YOU CAN ALSO GET A FREE EMAIL ACCOUNT FROM HOTMAIL OR GMAIL (GOOGLE) TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. YOU ALSO NEED TO GET A CHEAP CELL PHONE PLAN, SO YOU CAN KEEP IN TOUCH WITH POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS (IF YOU LOST YOUR JOB AND HOUSE), AS WELL POTENTIAL LANDLORDS, AND EVERYONE ELSE YOU MUST KEEP IN TOUCH WITH. WITH WIFI ACCESS, PUBLIC LIBRARY ACCESS AND A CHEAP CELL PHONE SERVICE, YOU CAN KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE WORLD FOR UNDER $20/MONTH!

Temporary Housing Solutions 1. Live at your office If you work in a smaller office building that you have 24 hour access, you can get away with living there for some time. I lived, ate, cooked, for 2 months in an office building. It wasn’t easy, but it can be done. Tips: - Join a gym close to the office. You need to be able to shower, shave, and wash up. Join a gym close to the office. It may cost $30 a month, but you must have a place to keep yourself clean. If you have a fear of public showers…well, now is the time to get over it. - Wake up before anyone arrives at your office. Head to the gym, work out if you’re in the mood, or just shower and get ready for the day. Time this so that you arrive ready to work back at the office. To any outsider it just looks like you arrived after working out at the gym (which is the truth) - Assuming you are storing your personal items in your car, be sure you have a small camping pad, and blankets or a sleeping bag that you can easily tote from your car to the office without arousing too much suspicion. - If someone ever comes into the office after hours, make sure you have a computer up and running so that you have a cover story (ie, project deadline tomorrow, working overtime)

2. House Sitting
House Sitting is a great way to have a bed or couch to sleep on without mooching on a friend or family. Plus, you’ll even earn some extra cash while you have a place to stay. I did this for a week after my house sold, and it was a good transition to living simply, and then living in my office.
Tips:
-Post fliers at local colleges, supermarkets, or online at craigslist. -Have a single page resume with references prepared to send to any potential clients. -Be a pet-friendly house sitter 3. CouchSurfing.com
This site is not meant for long-term stays, but you could easily go from place to place in a pinch. Just make sure and do the dishes! You’ll want to keep a positive rating to keep utilizing the kind souls here allowing you to crash for free.


4. Stay with friends or family
If you have family you can stay with, this is an obvious first choice. Just be careful about overstaying your welcome. The whole point of these tips is to get you to permanent housing eventually. If you’re staying with a friend or family member, you should be saving money and trying make a plan to deal with your housing situation.
Tips:
-Have a defined move out date. This will motivate you and reassure the person you are staying with.


5. Live in your car
There were a few nights when I was just so beat from a full day that I ended up curling up in a sleeping bag in the backseat of my car. It isn’t the most comfortable solution, but in a pinch, or for a short term solution it works.
Tips:
- When you stay overnight in your car, be sure to do it in different locations each night - try quiet neighborhoods that are in nicer areas of town. - make sure to move your car at least once a day so that suspicions aren’t raised.


Finding A Place
Save, Save, Save
While living in my office was a good move financially, after about the 6th week, I started getting a little stircrazy. You need to be saving money for a deposit and first/last on a place to live. A housing gap can be overlooked by a landlord, but you’re going to have to have a deposit plus first and last to counter that gap and your likely low credit score.
Tips:
- If you haven’t sold stuff already, now is the time. You don’t have the money for storage, and if you can’t fit your possessions in your car, you need to simplify.
Once you have enough cash saved up, getting a place can still be incredibly challenging after you’ve lost a home. Why? Because your credit is now in the tank. If you’ve lost your home, or even short sold it, it’s likely, like me, your credit score tanked. One of the biggest items landlords look at is that credit score.
The foreclosure or short sale of your home isn’t exactly the best indicator to a landlord either.


1. Craigslist
With a crappy credit score, but a decent chunk of change, your best bet to find housing is craigslist. Look for individuals (not real estate companies) listing places to rent.
Craiglist also has loads of sub-let ads. If you just need a room to yourself, you can save hundreds of bucks each month by subletting a room in a house, or condo. Individuals on craigslist in the sub-let category are your best bet to avoid a credit check. If you’ve got a job, and cash for a deposit, you should have no problem getting a room.
Another option is looking for cheap condo’s that are up for rent. These are often going to be a private landlord, and with the glut of condos built in the last few years I’d bet you can find some with rents similar to traditional apartments.
Tips:
- If a landlord wants a credit check, explain honestly that your credit is not good, but that you are trying to rebuild it and that you are trying to avoid hard pulls on your credit.


2. Your Church
Most churches have bulletin boards (offline and online ones) where people are always looking for roommates or posting homes/apartments for rent.
Closing The Deal
When you’re looking at places, make sure you’re dressed nicely and cleaned up. Be prepared to talk about your work. If the landlord doesn’t ask where you’ve lived the past month or weeks, don’t feel the need to bring it up. Avoid lying, but you don’t need to spill your life story, or how you’ve been living in your car the past month.


Good luck, I hope you find a place soon! Remember…a place to sleep is important. A bed is nice, but be thankful that you’re alive, and for the people in your life that care about you. Just because you screwed up in the past doesn’t mean you’re a screw-up, it just means your human.

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